Property Tax Caps, even possible?

These ever increasing bills are becoming hardships on many of the families throughout Illinois; in many communities, the monthly payment for property taxes are comparable to the homeowner’s mortgage payments. It’s becoming difficult for those living on fixed incomes to be able to stay in their own homes. Putting statewide property tax caps would give homeowners the ability to turn down any requests for increases beyond inflation.

Ever-escalating property tax bills are causing real pain for Illinois families. Last year, more than 10,000 DuPage County families were delinquent and faced a tax sale.

In downstate communities like Effingham, people are moving to “Shouses” — shed/houses — to avoid property taxes. In communities like Addison, Villa Park, and many areas of Cook County, a homeowner’s monthly property tax payment now rivals their mortgage payment.

Of course, Illinois is ranked second highest of the 50 states on property taxes. More and more, we are renting our private homes and commercial properties from local units of government: school districts, junior college, municipalities, townships, park districts, libraries, etc. Sure, it’s “private property,’ but you’re paying a tax bill that looks more and more like rent. How has this happened?

One factor is artificially inflated public employee salaries and pensions as shown in the data posted online at OpenTheBooks.com.

For example, many school district treasurers out-earn the state treasurer; park district managers are out-earning the state director of parks; 47 village managers make more than every governor of the 50 states.

Just in the last five years, the number of educators earning more than $100,000 has doubled to 17,000. By 2017, more than 10,000 educators will enjoy a taxpayer-guaranteed lifetime pension exceeding $100,000 per year……..follow the link for the rest of the article

Great and easy service to use. Very user friendly online. I didn't even need to talk to anyone. But when I did need to speak with someone, they were friendly and professional!! I would definitely recommend them to friends and family. We for sure will be using them again!read more

Lake County Appeal is an excellent service to appeal your property taxes. I have used them several times and have always had success. They saved me in excess of $2,000 on my 2016 bill. I am a realtor broker and I regularly refer them to my clients. It is easy and done completely on line. I highly recommend this service. You have absolutley nothing to lose!read more

Lake County Appeals did a fantastic job in successfully appealing my property taxes! They were communicative, responsive, thorough, and fully upfront and transparent about their fees. I will be recommending them to everyone I know who wants to dispute their property taxes.read more

I appealed my personal property tax and our business property tax last year with this company. I worked with Jill Odzer, good communication, very responsible person. They did good job for me and our company, they reduced tax bills for both property! Thanks! Highly recommend them!
Elena R.read more

I have been working with Lake County tax Appeal the last 2 years. They've been successful in reducing my tax bill considerably. My monthly paymen has been reduced by over $300/month! They are continuing to fight as my property is still inappropriately assessed. Lake County Tax Appeal is great to work with--- respond immediately to any correspondence, keep me informed and are successful in reducing my real estate taxes. Highly recommend them to anyone looking to reduce their real estate taxes. Giving 4 stars instead of 5 only because I feel my taxes are still inappropriately assessed and am still waiting to get them down further.read more

I contacted Lake County Appeal to protest my taxes and I am sure glad I did. I tried a different agency a year ago, to no avail but LCA got me a substantial reduction. I will not miss the boat again.read more

Ron and the team at Lake County Appeal do great work! They were able to get my property tax bill lowered by about 20% and were very friendly and kept me well informed the entire time. Can't say enough good about using them!!read more

We used Lake County Appeal for the first time this year. They were clear and concise to work with, most of the process was executed by email. Our property taxes were reduced considerably, so we will plan to continue using Lake County Appeal on an annual basis.read more

I have used Lake County Appeal twice now, both for my residence. My assessed valuations continue to go sky high - and the comps and sales in the neighborhood just have not kept pace. In fact they are stagnant or dropping. In the first instance LCA got an a reduction in my property taxes. A few years later, they were denied a reduction, and took the case through to an appeal. They were successful at reaching a compromise on a significant reduction. While I have not yet seen a refund, I know they are on the case and working on my behalf. I highly recommend this service.read more

Every little bit helps...my husband and I had gone before the Lake County Board and had no success. We utilized Lake County Appeal this year and met with success! After receiving the "blue sheet" for 2016 tax bill we are hiring Lake County Appeal again! I would recommend Ron highly!read more

I started with Lake County Appeal several years ago. The first year they were successful and finally got my assessed valuation to be closer to reality and saved me a great deal. I have used them every year to help assure the assessment was fair. With the quadrennial assessment changes this year, I hardly recognized my property, since it was valued much to high for the market. While the initial appeal was denied, Lake County Appeal was successful in getting a reduction. Very much worth the reasonable fee.read more

Have used LCA for years.....and always got a reduction! At one point the County fought Ron with my revision and had to repost...and sure enough the County gave me that Retroactive reduction.Have also sent my adult kids to LCA...and my Insurance Clients have had good luck. THANKS RON & LAKE COUNTY APPEAL!!!!!!read more

Lake County Appeal saved me $1,500 off my tax bill after a successful appeal. I am thrilled with their service and follow up and would recommend them to anyone who feels their tax assessment should be reviewed. Highly recommend them.read more

I'll start with a very good, as I have yet to see the results of the appeals. I brought in a larger portfoilio of properties (some were purchased traditionally and other via foreclosure auction) I was set-up with a very helpful gal in the office and she sat and inputed all of the property information. A few days later I received several emails stating a few were assessed properly (which I knew already, but wanted to verify my thought) and the ones I am concerned about are in the appeal process waiting on hearing dates. I did get a random Sunday afternoon call from the owner to discuss one of the properties (pleasantly surprised). I have been pleased thus far and recommended them to a friend who also brought in several properties for appeals. Any time Ive emailed an inquiry I have gotten a reasonably timed response. It is a slow process and scheduled input would be nice, but as stated Im sure this is due to the growing pains as they are one of the few providers in the area. I will update this after the processes have been completed. I am not affiliated with them or have I received any discounted services for any input. Thanks for your help on my propertiesread more

Thanks So Much for all your help! We saved almost $900.00 this year! Fantastic. We hired Attorneys a few years back but it cost us almost half of what we saved. Love Lake County Appeal LLC. Though they probably needed to change their fees due to them needing to hire an attorney to process all their appeals since the BOARD Voted that only attorneys can process the appeals. We need to vote these board members out. To have this power and even with the amount of people that contacte them before the vote and they still voted that way ...... Shame on the Board of Appeals!But thanks lake County Appeals! Love your Service!!!!read more

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I started with Lake County Appeal several years ago. The first year they were successful and finally got my assessed valuation to be closer to reality and saved me a great deal. I have used them every year to help assure the assessment was fair. With the quadrennial assessment changed last year, I hardly recognized my property, since it was valued much too high for the market. While the initial appeal was denied, Lake County Appeal was successful in getting a reduction. Very much worth the reasonable fee.read more

I highly recommend Ron Kingsley and the Lake County Tax Appeal team for their skills and abilities in challenging property tax assessments. Ron was able to reduce the property tax assessment on my organization's land in Lake County by almost 90%!! The appeal will save my organization thousands of dollars this year and every year going forward. Ron provides great personal service and keeps you advised every step of the way. The contingency fee structure is very fair and allows you to pursue a challenge with minimal out-of-pocket costs. I would highly recommend that you consider Lake County Appeal for your personal or commercial property tax challenges -- you will be glad you did!read more

Ron did a great job representing us with our Real Estate Tax appeal. He successfully got our assessment reduced $25,000, which will save us about $3500 per year. It was a simple and painless process with Ron pretty much doing all the legwork. For those that don't like overpaying their taxes, I highly recommend Ron!read more